ICARUS Croatia is a non-profit association dedicated to the research of historical sources, the promotion of the open access to archives through new IT technologies and the development of cross-institutional and international cooperation in the culture, science and GLAM professionals’ activities. This is implemented through interaction with local communities and organizations on encouraging preservation, interpretation and research of cultural heritage, as well as citizens’ engagement in it. ICARUS Croatia work – public and education programs, digital platforms, expert meetings, exhibitions, workshops, communication and publishing activities etc. – is focused on the collaboration, networking and transfer of knowledge in cultural heritage sector, as well as to implementation of international archival and information society projects and initiatives that enable connecting Croatian institutions and experts with global trends and examples of good practice.
The National Archives of Hungary is the nation’s record keeper, a national level cultural heritage institution. Its task is not only to collect, to catalogue, to preserve and to restore historic documents, but also to serve the needs of society and the citizens, and provide them assistance in their research.
The NAH stores 300 kilometers of records, 66 million microfilm slides and 15 million digital files. This remarkable collection includes 108.000 medieval charters (the oldest one dates back to 1109), architectural plans and maps (c. 50.000 records), archives of central government offices of modern times, and archives of prominent Hungarian families. Each year, NAH serves around 2.200 Hungarian and foreign researchers, providing some 20.000 visits. NAH has a professional and administrative staff of 660 in 20 member institutions at 70 locations in the country.
NAH have substantial experience using technology to facilitate preservation of, and access to, the national records placed in their care. The NAH makes its archival material on diasporas, ethnic groups and migration accessible through a range of online services and pan European aggregators.
In the context of its education activities, trained staff provides complementary training for school groups supports elementary, secondary schools, teachers with special programs and a continually expanding content through its online education portal and e-learning materials. The Hungarian diaspora, the Hungarians who emigrated, were displaced, exiled or fled to Western Europe, North and South America, Australia, Israel and South Africa in the historical storms of the 20th century, make up 2.5 million people, one fifth of the Hungarian population.
The project contributes to the institution’s strategic objectives of making the resource base of academic research accessible, fostering local, national and European identity through the exploration of personal histories, supporting the growing research on family history and providing online content.
The Spanish State Archives is the unit under the Directorate General of Cultural Heritage and Fine Arts entrusted of the state archives´ management. Its mission is to conserve, protect and disseminate the Spanish documentary heritage, transmitting the collective memory to the future, promoting the management of electronic documents and creating technologies and cultural contents of quality.
As part of its international cooperation responsibilities, the unit promotes, develops, and recovers the documentary heritage. In addition to international cooperation with Ibero-America, in which this Sub directorate General has a deep-rooted experience, the institution also participated in a wide cooperation with Europe, carried out through the development of several programs, such as: APEnet project (2009-2012); APEx project (2012-2015); ENArC (European Network on Archival Cooperation)-Monasterium.net (2010-2015) and European Digital Treasures (2018-2023)
In order to strengthen cooperation ties with other European archival institutions and there with tackle some of the key new challenges faced by the digitized archives in Europe we the Spanish State Archives participates in the EBNA and EAG meetings, active player as well in DLM Forum community of public archives, Time Machine and ICARUS.
Archive De Domijnen is the archive of the municipality of Sittard-Geleen and the region, in particular the municipalities of Beek and Stein. About 6 kilometers of archive material from the 13th century to only about 20 years old is kept in the modern archive repository. The archive, in which next to 10 regular employees work are also about 70 volunteers active. The archive works closely with the other cultural institutions in the city. The cooperation is particularly strong with the historical museum De Domijnen and the approximately 25 voluntary heritage organizations in the region. Various cooperation projects have been carried out in recent years around the theme of immigration/emigration/refugees. One of the most prominent projects is the linking of ‘all’ geographical and genealogical data in our region from about the year 1575, now known as AEZEL.eu or Limburg Timemachine. Many millions of facts have been linked, mainly thanks to the many volunteers and our network in and outside the province of Limburg. Identity-related issues also emerge from this ‘historical big data’.
The Limburg heritage cooperative consists of approximately 50 members, all heritage institutions, small and very large. It was founded to achieve concrete goals. For the members, but especially with the ambition to make information about Limburg heritage centrally available to the public. That is why we are working on a joint information service point, the development of a story and collection website, joint public-oriented projects and the development of joint heritage care. The activities of the cooperative are built up and implemented from the ground up. By its own members and cooperation partners, pioneering and collaborating in thematic working groups. In this way, each contributes to its development, based on its own specific qualities.
